For an opening night game, Lions' win certainly felt important

B.C. Lions' quarterback Jonathon Jennings, left, fakes a handoff to Jeremiah Johnson during the first half of a CFL football game against the Calgary Stampeders in Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday June 25, 2016.Photo by
DARRYL DYCK

The 2016 season has gotten off to a rousing start for the B.C. Lions. A 20-18 win over the Calgary Stampeders already has moved the team to the top of the Canadian Football League’s West Division at 1-0.

Though it’s far too early for Lions loyalists to book plane reservations to Toronto for the 104th Grey Cup, a loss on opening night Saturday could have been deflating, if not outright disastrous for a franchise trying to win back fans and credibility.

And it showed that Wally Buono — the head coach in the 2.0 phase of his long and storied career — hasn’t forgotten how to win a very big game.

Has any opening victory in recent years seemed as important as this one? One post-game look at Buono, appearing drained and in need of a throat lozenge, after shouting himself hoarse, might suggest it was.

“Winning doesn’t change,” Buono said. “All of a sudden, you don’t change, just because you’re five years older. Whether it was my first win, or whatever, winning is still fun. When you win at home, when you win under the pressure the guys were under, when you play a good football team, and you come back, there’s a lot to be proud of. I’ll the enjoy the win. But when I wake up the next morning, it’s time to move on to the next game.”

The result partially answered some of the major questions about the Lions, such as: Can they win without Jon Jennings at his best?

The sophomore quarterback struggled to find his rhythm in the first half — the Lions registered only a field goal in the opening 30 minutes (although kicker Richie Leone was wide on a 36-yard attempt). But Jennings kept at it, refused to knuckle under, spraying passes to seven different receivers and finishing the night with 248 yards through the air, 41 more on rushes and the all-important W.

Will Marcello Simmons sleep well on his Beautyrest? Not likely, after the first-year special teams coach watched three of Leone’s punts either deflected or stuffed when the Lions offered the resistance of an average flag football team. The porosity dried up in the second half, however, and the unit took back some of its lost pride when Chris Rainey scored on a winning 72-yard punt return.

With Team 100 — linebackers Solomon Elimimian and Adam Bighill — reunited, there’s no reason the Lions defence can’t resume its dominating ways. Bighill had nine tackles and a sack, Elimimian’s pursuit following Achilles surgery appears undiminished, and a defensive line, posing question marks, provided an exclamation point by denying the Stampeders on three cracks from the one-yard line.

Saturday also showed why the Lions signed Jeremiah Johnson, the former Oregon Ducks/Ottawa Redblacks running back expected to make up for the loss of slash and dash Andrew Harris in free agency.

Johnson ran for just 44 yards on nine carries, but 33 of them came on a painstaking (for the Stampeders), clock-killing drive that ate up the last three minutes of the game, with the Lions nursing a two-point lead. The best thing about it, if you are a fan of offensive line play, was that it was far from a one-man show.

“You’ve got to give credit to the O-line, first and foremost,” Jennings said. “They were opening up the gates for him. And he finished the runs. J.J. is a special back. He did some great things for us.”

Johnson, who is on a five-figure ticket with the Lions, much less than what the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are paying Harris, said he doesn’t feel the job of replacing a CFL all-star (2012) and two-time 1,000-yard rusher is a monkey on his back.

“He’s (Harris) not here for a reason,” Johnson said. “They wanted a different running back. That’s what it comes down to. He’s doing his thing. I’m happy for him. But his success there doesn’t have anything to do with my success here. It’s all about business — going to where you’re needed.”

Needed here, to perhaps win back some fans who have passed the point of caring, Johnson helped pull the Lions a little closer to being a team that matters again.

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